1. Singapore American • September 2015
CRCE &
BUSINESS
5
Ten Reasons I Love Doing
Business in Singapore
By Chris J. Reed, Black Marketing
H
aving been in Singapore for six
years now, I truly believe it’s great to
do business in Singapore and Asia
compared to doing business in London and the
UK. Here are ten reasons why:
1. People think regionally, not locally.
One of the first things I noticed about doing
business here is that people don’t just think about
one country or one city. They think regionally.
2. People think locally when it comes to
creative execution.
Clients may target and operate in Asia Pacific
countries. However, clients also tend to believe
in country-specific and even city-specific creative
execution, acknowledging every city and every
country has different a customer profile.
3. Every city in Asia is both different and
fascinating.
Asia Pacific is vastly different to Europe. While
culturally different, every country in Europe
has similar broadband speeds, infrastructure,
religion and politics. There are no military
dictatorships in Europe. There are no alcohol-
free countries in Europe. There are no
typhoons. Practices are less corrupt. Asia, on
the other hand, is the complete opposite. When
doing business in each city in Asia, you have
to constantly learn and embrace local cultures
and customs.
4. People will meet you.
One of the great things I noticed about setting
up meetings in Asia is that virtually every time I
reach out to people on LinkedIn, they generally
agree to a meeting.
5. Singapore is an easy place to get together.
In Singapore, I can walk to most meetings or
my meetings can walk to me. People can decide
to meet you tomorrow and it will take five
minutes to get there. Even meetings in places
like Kuala Lampur and Jakarta can take less
time to reach from Singapore than it took me
to cross London or use the regional or national
rail stations to reach potential clients in the UK.
6. People make decisions.
One of the things I do love about Singapore,
Australia, Hong Kong and Shanghai is that
my clients tend to be very open and straight-
talking. If they think we’re too expensive,
they tell us. Of course, there are exceptions.
Sometimes Asians don’t wish to lose face and,
therefore, when they realize that they can’t
afford our services, they say they will think
about it and will get back to us in a week, a
month or a year when actually they mean never.
7.Thereisanexpat/foreigner/internationalist
network.
Whether people like it or not, expats buy expats,
foreigners buy from foreigners and locals buy
from locals. This works to your advantage if you
have a great network of contacts and are good
at enhancing this network to grow it further.
8. You get out what you put in.
More than anywhere in the world, I think Asia
rewards hard work. The governments in any of
the Asia Pacific nations do not come to your aid
if you are in trouble. There is no fall back; no
unemployment or disability benefit. Therefore,
the emphasis is on working and providing for
yourself and your family. If you do not, no one
else will. This is a great motivator to work hard.
The harder you work, the more you succeed.
9. Asia rewards entrepreneurs.
I believe that Asia rewards entrepreneurs more
than Europe. Certainly, it’s easier to create and
set up a company in Singapore than in London.
The environment is more pro-business. Anyone
can be an entrepreneur in Asia. It’s also easier to
reach out to potential clients here, to network
and to work with other entrepreneurs. It’s just
basically a more positive business environment
in which to do business.
10. Business events are plentiful.
There are more business events in Singapore
than in any other place I have ever worked.
This includes amazing business and marketing
happenings as well as some fantastic networking
events. I could literally go to an event three
times a day, every day in Singapore.
Yes, I really do love doing business in Asia, but
I especially love doing business in Singapore.
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